


Gentle Intensity

by EternalElegy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: JunIba Day 6/18/2020, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24789562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalElegy/pseuds/EternalElegy
Summary: There are hundreds and millions of different ways to say "I love you".
Relationships: Saegusa Ibara/Sazanami Jun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Gentle Intensity

Jun realised that it had been a long time since he had to perform solo for just one other person. He remembered when Hiyori had found him and dragged him into a practice room, and then asked him to sing something, anything that he knew. Looking back, that may have been the most important moment of Jun’s life, and he was glad that his performance had somehow satisfied Hiyori, but right now, Ibara was asking him to sing and Jun found that he was just as nervous as he was before. Even though he had learned and improved so much from his lessons with Hiyori and the rest of Eden, singing in front of the producer who could easily throw him away wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“Hmm? You already know how I sing though?” Jun responded to the request with a question of his own, taking a mouthful of water from his bottle afterwards. They had just finished practice, and Hiyori and Nagisa had gone ahead, leaving the two of them alone in the room.   
“Singing on your own is a completely different thing.” Ibara was right. Usually, Jun played as a half of Eve, or as somewhat of a supporting member for Hiyori and Nagisa, but being on his own was an experience he hadn’t had in a while. “I’m interested in hearing what you sound like by yourself.”   
“Fine.” Jun wiped the sweat off his face with a towel. Ibara did the same before cleaning his glasses. “What do you want me to sing?”   
“Whatever you want.”

So the song choice was up to him. Jun had sung for Hiyori numerous times before, especially when he was just beginning to receive lessons, and he had difficulty recalling what kinds of things he had performed. He had no reason to sing them again, and thinking about the amount of dust those songs had collected was not helping with his nervousness. Suddenly, something clicked. He remembered a song that Hiyori was particularly happy with, so much so that he had asked Jun to sing it multiple times. They even did a fair amount of work on it, even though Jun would never perform it to a wider audience.

Problem is, it was one of those sappy love songs, and he was about to sing to Ibara Saegusa, a person who absolutely despised feelings and took almost every possible chance to avoid them. Jun decided to sing it anyway, Ibara would be smart enough to separate the music from the lyrics… right?   
“Have you decided on something?” Ibara asked as Jun reached to his phone to pull up the backing track that he somehow had never deleted.   
“Yeah.”   
“Sing for me.”

Jun set his phone on a nearby table and straightened his back, facing Ibara. Behind those glasses, Ibara gazed intently at him with an unreadable expression that only caused his heart to pound more violently in the confinements of his chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out, just like Hiyori had taught him to try and get rid of the nerves, then he pressed the play button. 

Jun began to sing. Ibara had no idea what was coming for him.

\---

Ibara knew that he should have been thinking about business, the amount of money he could get if he had capitalised on that beautiful voice Jun had. In fact, he already was doing so to an extent now that the Saga live was coming up. He knew that Hiyori had been the one that scouted out Jun and he should be thanking him more than he was currently because that voice was a gold mine and Ibara could imagine the heights he could push himself to as a producer if he gave Jun work as a soloist. Ibara knew that he should be patting himself on the back for asking Jun to sing for him on his own, because now he knew that he could access a whole new world to conquer; he could put his influence in not only the idol industry, but in the music industry too. Ibara knew that he should have been laughing on the inside, or even be laughing out loud because he should be feeling uncontrollable glee right now at the prospect of more power, more profit, more success.

Instead, Jun’s voice had him swept up in a whirlwind of feelings that he had never experienced before. Jun’s voice was gentle, and Ibara knew that, but what he never realised was how  _ intense _ it could get when it was fueled with the passion of powerful lyrics and when Jun and Jun alone was under the spotlight. It was almost as if he really meant every single damn word that he was singing, and Ibara was reciprocating every single emotion that Jun was expressing with just his voice. It didn’t feel like it was the two of them were alone in a practice room; it was like they were transported into a completely different timeline where they really were soulmates and Jun was pouring all of his heart out in front of Ibara, and the only right thing for him to do was to accept everything before doing the same. There was nothing for Ibara to hide behind; every single wall and mask that he had so carefully crafted had been torn down just by the sound of Jun’s voice but instead of feeling unpleasantly vulnerable, he felt  _ warm _ . Ibara had never felt that kind of warmth before, and something inside him made him want to grab hold of it, cherish it, and never let go.

Ibara came crashing back into reality when Jun’s voice stopped as the song finished. Ibara was sure that he had become a completely different person for those few minutes, because it was so unlike him to feel any of those things, and for a moment, it scared him that Jun could have this kind of effect on him. He had never cared that much about singing, or dancing, or being an idol in general, but despite his lack of personal interest, his state of mind had been altered so much that he honestly thought that there was something wrong with him. 

Jun rubbed his clammy hands on his sweatpants, completely confused at his own performance. Despite having not spent time on that song in a few months, he had somehow given the best performance of it in his life. While he had become a better singer in general, it felt impossible that he sung it that well, especially because he was also quite nervous about doing this in front of Ibara. From the way Ibara was staring at him, Jun quickly realised that his perspective on the performance could have been wrong and that he actually had just flopped in the worst way possible. 

“If you have nothing to say, I’ll catch up to Ohii-san now.” Jun sounded like he didn’t care, but in reality it was the opposite. He wasn’t keen on having to face an angry Ibara if he hadn’t performed up to his producer’s expectations, and Ibara’s silence was only making the suspense worse. Jun took it as in indirect dismissal, and he gathered his things before he left the practice room.

Ibara hadn’t properly snapped out of it yet; Jun’s performance was already playing itself over and over in his head, and so did the emotions that went along with hearing it. By the time Ibara was able to think clearly again, Jun had already left him alone for who knows how long, and Ibara went to collect his things to leave the room. As he turned to head home, he saw Jun down the corridor, and suddenly he completely lost control of his body as the feelings flooded back all at once. The Ibara Saegusa that had been listening to the song had taken over and he was completely bewildered at the fact that he wasn’t even trying to stop himself; if anything, he was willingly letting it happen. Ibara thought that he preferred to plan everything out perfectly instead of acting on a whim, he was horribly wrong if only just for this moment.

“Jun!” He called.   
“What is it?” Jun stopped walking away and turned around, the moonlight from a nearby window illuminating his figure. 

“I-”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy JunIba Day.
> 
> What happens at the end? I'll leave it up to your imagination.


End file.
